


Team-Building

by CBSlave737



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 05:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14846423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CBSlave737/pseuds/CBSlave737
Summary: Just my take on some team-building exercises the Avengers pick to do. Every one gets a chance to pick something without complaining from others. Features trips, training, snarkiness, laughter





	1. Set Up

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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This is just an idea that popped into my head that I couldn’t get out. I know it’s been done before but this is my take on team bonding and how each member gets to pick a different thing to do.  
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“Okay guys, and gal,” Steve started one morning at breakfast, “Now that things have quieted down finally and since we are all staying at the tower together, I think it would be a good idea for some team bonding exercises.”   
“Really Cap, are we a team?” Bruce spoke up first.  
“Of course we are; we saved slash destroyed part of New York together didn’t we?” Tony said.  
“And that makes us a team?”  
“That and the fact that with this new alien threat, they will need us again, whether they want to admit it right now or not.” Steve said.  
“Capt has a point.” Clint said.   
“So what would everyone like to do?” Steve asked.  
“I vote laser tag.” Tony spoke up first.  
“I don’t see that as a good idea, if we have to do it, why not dinner and a show?” Bruce asked.  
“Boring, plus how does that make us better as a team?” Tony responded.  
“I think they both are decent ideas, although Tony, I’d kick your butt at laser tag. Why don’t we take turns and each person decides what we get to do, with no squabbles from the rest of the team.” Natasha spoke up before an argument broke out between the two resident science bros.  
“I think that’s a good idea, thanks Romanoff.” Steve said tilting his glass of orange juice her way.   
“Okay, so who picks first?” Clint spoke up for the first time.   
“Well that would be me,” Tony started. “I’ve already rented out Laser Incredible for next Thursday night starting at 5, and they have a snack bar so nachos for dinner.”  
“Awesome.” Clint said. Natasha poked him in the arm, “What? I love nachos.” He said rubbing his arm.  
“So will these be just for the team, or are girlfriends invited as well?” Pepper asked. “Because I’d love to kick Tony’s butt at something else.” She added with a grin to her boyfriend.  
“Oh you wish my dear.” He said coming to stand next her at the coffee maker. As they started to lean into each other, Natasha spoke up.  
“So what else can she kick your butt at Stark? I mean, besides the obvious?”  
“Hey hey, what’s that suppose to mean?” he said wrapping an arm around Pepper’s waist.  
“You know, I don’t want to know what she can kick his butt at. If you want to come, you are more than welcome too, Pepper.” Steve said.   
“And you can be on my team.” Natasha offered. “Tony can have Clint.”  
“Hey!” Both guys exclaimed, while the rest just laughed, even Bruce cracked a smile.  
“Sounds like a plan, too bad there aren’t any other women in the group, so we could do ladies vs. the guys.” Pepper said.  
“Lady Jane may be in town that night with young Darcy.” Thor offered.  
“If we could verify that, we could do boys and girls with 5 each.” Natasha said.  
“Who is the 5th girl?” Bruce asked, “By my count that is only 4.”  
“Hill.” Natasha and Pepper said together.  
“We’re dead.” Said Bruce, putting his head down on the table.  
“Come on, we have a super solider, a guy with like the best eye sight ever, a God, and the Science Bros.” said Tony. “They have one master assassin, a CEO, one science geek and 2 paper pushers. Who do you think has the bigger advantage?”  
“Well when you put it that way, they do.” Bruce said, looking up.  
“Thanks for the support Banner.” Natasha said.  
“Can I be lead on this?” Clint asked.  
“Since its Tony’s game, I think that makes him the leader.” Spoke up Steve.  
“Fine.” Muttered Clint.  
Natasha patted his leg and leaned into his side to whisper in his ear.  
“Hey, hey, hey! No Secrets.” Said Tony.  
“It’s no secret Tony, and if you want to know, I’m sure Pepper can enlighten you.” Natasha said while Clint sat back and smirked.   
“Oh he knows.” Said Pepper with a smile.  
“Okay, breakfast is over, at least for me.” A blushing Steve said while getting up to take his dishes to the sink.


	2. Tony's Turn

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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“Okay men, listen up.” Tony started as they geared up for laser tag. “This place is awesome; they have cat walks up top, and tunnels and trenches in the floor. Barton, I want you hiding somewhere down below.”  
“Should Eye of Hawk not be in a position of height, to afford us a bigger advantage?” asked Thor.  
“No he should not, that’s where the enemy will expect him to go, which is why he should go down below. Steve, start on the left side and work your way around the perimeter. Thor, you take the right side and work your way around. If you make it around and you two meet, don’t shoot each other. Bruce you go up top, try to be quiet. I’ll go right up the middle. We will hunt them down and take them out.” He finished with a flourish.   
“Okay, you’re in charge.” Said Clint, picking up his gun, “Let’s do this.”  
The worker, a short brown headed college girl, lined them up and walked circles around them, making sure all their equipment was hooked up and working. After giving them a brief overview of the layout and the rules she told them her counterpart tonight was doing the same things for their opponents.  
“Okay ladies, we ready to kick some testosterone fueled butts?” asked Jane.  
“Always.” answered Darcy tightening her vest.  
“So anyone have a plan for how to do this?” Pepper asked.  
“Do what we do best and take them down a peg.”Maria said as the ladies started giggling.  
“If no one objects, I think I have an idea.” Natasha spoke up.  
As she was finishing laying out the details for their plan a young guy in the staff uniform come in to give them an overview of the layout and the rules of the game. He walked around all of them and tested to make sure everything was working properly. He paused for a moment, listening to the headset he was wearing.  
“Okay ladies, if you are all ready, it is time to start the game. We’ve set a timer for a playtime of one hour. You can shoot and be shot multiple times, but every time you get hit your vest lights up and it takes 30 seconds to reset while it resets your gun is unusable.” When they all answered that they were ready to play, he opened another door and let them into a little room with a big digital clock on the wall counting down to zero.  
“Okay, when it reaches zero the far door will open and you will enter the playing field, the door will close behind you. On a different side of the arena another door will open with your opponents being let out into the playing field.” She finished her well rehearsed speech and backed out of the room, leaving the guys to take one last deep breath before going into battle.  
“Okay guys let’s prove who is the better sex.” Tony said just as the timer finished and the door opened. They all walked onto the playing field and split up to start the search.   
Steve had already made his way to the second wall and as he was preparing to turn up the next he heard something. Stepping away from the wall, he ducked behind a wall a few feet away. Looking around the side of the wall he stood up when he saw who it was. Thor had made his way around the other wall and upon not seeing or hearing anything had let his guard down some and wasn’t trying as hard to be stealthy. Steve stepped out and started walking back along the wall shaking his head at Thor’s antics.  
Thor saw the good Captain, and waved, not understanding why Steve was shaking his head at him.   
“The Ladies are proving to be quite adept at hiding; I have seen no sign of my Lady Jane.”  
“Yeah I haven’t seen or heard anything either.” Steve admitted.   
“Well I heard Thor from halfway across the room and now with two of you making racket, I’m surprised you are still in the game.” Said Tony coming out from a low wall off to their side, they all lifted their guns and looked around expecting one of the ladies to jump out at them.  
Steve let out a small chuckle before lowering his weapon, “Have you seen anything Tony?”  
“Nada, you two hear anything?”  
“We have neither seen nor heard from the ladies.” Thor replied.  
While the boy’s were exchanging info, they failed to notice that their position was compromised. All of a sudden, a red light shot out from 3 different directions, and 3 bodies dropped to the floor. All three had been hit, and their vests were lighting up to prove it. They laid there for a moment, listening more intently for enemy sounds than they did for one of SHIELD’s mission briefings, while they waited for the timer on their vest to reset so they could continue the play.  
“How did they get the drop on us?” Steve asked.  
“If I had to guess, I’d say that Spider has a plan.” Tony said  
“A mighty plan at that.” Thor said, “They are proving to be an admiral foe.”  
“Let’s go get them boys.” Said Tony moving into a crouch in preparedness to run away.  
“Shall we stick to the wall Man of Iron?” asked Thor, crouching down beside him.  
“You know what, just fan out and find them.” Said Tony, dashing for a tunnel a little ways from their current position.  
Bruce was walking along the cat walk when he saw some green flashing lights and a big thud.  
“Well that can’t be good.” He muttered, starting to walk that way.  
“No Doc, I’m afraid it’s not.” Said a voice from behind him. He turned to find Darcy behind him. They stood there with guns raised watching each other for a short moment. Darcy made the first move, not by shooting him but by stepping closer to him. She walked right up to him, causally side stepping his still lifted gun, until he had to look down to see her face. She stood in his bubble and watched his face for any sign of a reaction, before lifting herself up on her toes and just barely grazing his jaw with her mouth. She pulled the trigger and stepped back while his vest lit up.   
“Sorry Doc.” Darcy said turning and running off before his vest could reset and let him retaliate.  
“Sneaky Natasha.” He said knowing she would have been the one to come up with a plan of action for them.  
From her vantage point Natasha saw Darcy take out Banner.  
“Not what I meant when I said distract him, but hey it worked.” She said dropping down next to Darcy.  
“Any sign of Clint?”  
“None, I guess Tony sent him to the lower section, he knew we would look for him up here.”  
“Well good luck finding him; we have 25 minutes left in the game.”  
Splitting up they went their separate ways, Natasha headed down a ladder to find Clint. As soon as her feet touched the bottom she felt a gun in her back. It’s rare for someone to get the drop on her so she knew it could only be one person. She dropped her shoulders and sighed as she turned around.  
“Hey Clint, where ya been?”  
“Around.” He pulled the trigger watching her vest light up. “Sorry, didn’t want you to distract me like Darcy did Banner.” He lowered his gun.  
“Like it would work, you know my tricks.” She stepped into his space.  
“Oh I doubt that.” He said reaching his arms around her and pulling her even closer.  
She gave him a full grin, before pulling his face down to hers.  
He backed her into the ladder she had previously descended from. She arched into him as he trailed kisses down her throat. Running her hands through his hair she tossed a glance behind him when she saw movement. Next thing she saw was Clint’s surprised look while his vest lit up between them. She placed one last kiss on his lips before turning and disappearing into the semi darkness.  
“Well damn.” He muttered.  
Tony had just stuck his head out around a wall when he saw a flash of familiar strawberry blonde hair. He followed her around two more walls before he got his shot, taking it he couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on her face when she whipped around to see who had gotten her.  
“Mr. Stark.” She only called him that when he was in trouble now that they were together.  
When she took a step towards him, he called out “It’s only a game Pep.” as he turned and fled, but he ran right into Jane who didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.  
“Thanks Jane.” Pepper said as the two ladies walked away, but what they didn’t see was the figure lying on top of a wall waiting for them to get closer.  
Both of their vests lit up and they looked around for the culprit but to no avail, the shooter was gone.  
When Steve hit the ground on the other side of the wall, he turned a corner and his vest lit up enough for him to see Maria standing there.  
“Payback Captain.” She turned and ran off.  
At that point a voice rang through some loud speakers letting them know they only had 10 minutes left in this round.  
In the last 10 minutes, Clint came out of hiding looking for Natasha, but only found himself hitting Pepper while Pepper shot Steve. Thor found Jane, but said he couldn’t shoot her so she shot him instead. She was hit by Tony who was hit by Darcy, when Bruce stepped out to hit Darcy he was stopped by Maria shooting him. Clint shot Maria and with only a couple of minutes left Natasha stood up on a wall, shot Clint and then proceeded to jump down right next to him. Everyone was standing in a group laughing when the lights came fully up and the doors opened back up.   
Leaving the arena, they turned in their guns and learned that the girls won the first round before they decided to eat and then play some more.   
The played four more rounds that night before calling it quits and going back to the tower.   
“Well I have to say that was fun.” Spoke up Bruce as they settled into the communal living room.  
“Yeah,” agreed Steve, “good choice Tony.”   
“You say that like I never have good ideas.” Tony was cut off by Pepper leaning into him and whispering in his ear. His faced changed into a smirk and he dropped a kiss on her lips when she pulled back.   
“Well, it’s been a pleasant evening, but we’re going to head to bed.”Tony said pulling Pepper up with him when he stood.   
“Thank you for letting me come tonight, it was nice to relax for a bit.” She said, “Goodnight.”  
They left for the elevator to a chorus of goodbyes from the group.  
“Bed sounds nice,” spoke up Jane standing up next. Everyone told her goodnight too. She paused when she got to the doorway, “Coming Thor?”   
“Goodnight my fellow brothers and sisters.” He obediently got up to follow his Lady Jane to their shared room two floors up.  
“I’ve got a simulation running in the lab I need to check on before I get to go to sleep.” said Bruce, heading out of the room too.  
“Hey Darcy, why don’t you follow him and make sure he actually leaves the lab tonight.”   
“Took the words right from my head Natasha.” said Maria with a grin at the younger woman.  
“You two think you’re being sneaky, stop it.” Darcy said standing up to leave.  
“Good night.” called Clint, dragging out the words as she left the room.  
Since it was down to just the Shield agents and Steve, Clint and Natasha dropped their guard a little by Clint wrapping his arm around her shoulders and Natasha repositioning on the couch to snuggle into his side.   
They talked about nothing for several minutes, rehashing some funnier moments from the games earlier that evening. A beep went off and Maria fished her phone out of her purse.  
“Sorry guys, my ride is here.” She stood up to leave and everyone else stood up too.   
“Yeah, I guess we’re gonna head to bed too.” Clint said as him and Natasha started walking for the elevator with Maria.   
All four climb on the elevator and Steve pushed the button for the ground floor.  
“You can head to bed, I can show myself out.” She protested.  
“I just want to make sure you get to your ride safely.”  
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself, besides he should be right at the curb.”  
“Guys we’re half way down anyways.” Spoke up Natasha from where she had sat down and dragged Clint to sit next to her so she would have a warm point to lean against.  
“Okay, but try not to stare and I don’t want it ever mentioned who is picking me up.”  
“Maria,” started Clint, startling Maria since he always called her by her surname. “Next time you should try to get him to come, he needs to have fun.” He surprised her with that statement, she had no idea anyone knew. Seeing Natasha nodding, she glared at her.  
“You knew and never said anything?” she asked her friend.  
“It’s none of our business, besides you’ve never mentioned Clint or me even though I know you’ve known about us for a while.” Natasha responded.  
“Well, I’m out of the loop.” Said Steve with a familiar, confused look on his face.  
They reached the ground floor at that moment, and the doors opened. As they walked across the lobby, they could see a SVU had pulled up on the curb and a very familiar figure was waiting against the passenger side door. When they reached the door they had to have Jarvis unlock it to let her out, the three Avengers watched as she walked right up to the man who opened the door for her. She stopped and pulled him in for a hug, she must have said something in his ear because he gave an uncharacteristic grin and dropped a kiss on her check as he straightened back up.   
When he shut the door firmly behind her, he turned toward the group still standing at the now relocked door. He nodded at the trio before walking around and getting in the SVU.  
“Well, that was unexpected.” Said Steve as they drove off, he was still standing at the door when he heard the other two tell him the elevator was waiting. “Coming.” He called walking their way.  
“Remember Steve, not a word to anyone, not even to them.” said Natasha.  
“What about you two?” he asked.  
“What about us?” asked Clint.   
“We’re just partners.” said Natasha.  
“Really? That’s what you’re going with?”  
“No, but that’s the line we give Shield if anyone bothers asking directly.” responded Clint.  
“Clint, we can trust him.” said Natasha.  
He knew then that Steve was going to get the truth. It was a major event for Natasha to trust someone after just the few weeks they’ve spent together, or just to trust someone period.  
He took a breath before giving in, “we’re married. Have been for two years now.” He said with a smile at his wife.   
“Okay, good to know.” Steve said as the elevator stopped at his floor.   
“Hey Steve,” called Natasha as he stepped off, “same rules apply.”   
“Of course, good night.” He turned and headed to his room without looking back.  
“Come on Spider, let’s go to bed.” Clint said as the elevator headed up to their floor.   
“I love you babe.” He grinned despite rolling his eyes at her.  
“I love you too dear.”


	3. Bruce's Turn

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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“It’s a good thing we planned an extra half an hour into our schedule.” Said Tony from over at the bar.  
“Please tell me you aren’t making yourself a drink already?” asked Banner.  
“Of course not, I told you I’m cutting back on the hard stuff.” He said.  
“Then what…” Steve was cut off by the billionaire lifting up his wrists and showing them the bands he had attached.  
“Really, do you think you will need them tonight?” Steve asked.  
“Barton’s packing.”   
“Barton is a highly trained assassin, who is always packing. But you don’t see him carrying his bow and a quiver of arrows into a 5 star restaurant.” Banner said.  
While Barton shrugged his shoulders and Tony opened his mouth to say something else, the elevator picked that moment to open. All the guys turned and stared as the ladies of the group walked into the room.   
“Wow.” Said Steve.  
“You look magnificent tonight Lady Jane, I am most joyous to be able to accompany you this evening.” Thor said with a bow and a kiss to Jane’s hand.  
Pepper walked over to join Tony at the bar. “You look great Pep.” He said looking her up and down in a familiar backless navy dress.  
“I know,” she grinned at him. “I figure I’d give this dress a second chance to impress you, since you weren’t quite all there the first time I wore it.”  
“Aww Pep, I’ve apologized for that many times over.”  
“Oh I remember your apologizes,” she said leaning to whisper in his ear, “especially that trip to Barbados where we…” she trailed off with a tug to his earlobe.  
“Pepper Potts, I do believe you will be the death of me.” He said clenching the bar top and breathing deep.  
Meanwhile Clint had kissed Natasha on the cheek to welcome her and they were now standing with Steve, Thor and Jane watching the others.   
“You looking amazing Darcy.” Said Bruce.  
“Thanks Bruce.” She gave him a soft smile. “You look good too.”  
“Tony had me outfitted with some decent suits when I moved in.”  
“Well he picked well, I’ll have to thank Pepper one day.” They shared a laugh at that.  
“Looks like everyone has a date tonight except you Cap.” Said Tony as Pepper and him joined the group.  
“Thanks Tony.” Said Steve with a ‘slight’ shove to his shoulder which resulted in him stumbling over several feet, while Pepper clasped a hand over her mouth to stem the giggles that started flowing.  
“Actually I invited Maria, we just have to stop and pick her up.”  
“Oh so you and the Special Agent huh?” asked Tony with a wiggle of his eyebrows.  
“Maybe,” said Steve with a straight face, even though his eyes flicked to Clint, “and maybe we’re just friends.”  
“If you want a wingman, all you have to do is ask.” Tony offered.  
“If I want a wingman, I’ll ask the Hawk over here.” Said Steve, “besides, I don’t need or want someone to help me get a date.”  
Tony opened his mouth to say something, probably snippy and sarcastic and making fun of Clint but he was cut off by Pepper lightly popping him on the back of the head.   
“I think it’s time to go Tony.”  
“Yes, let’s go.” Said Bruce.  
They all filed outside to the stretch limo that Tony had hired for the night. Everyone got in with Steve getting in last since he had to give Maria’s address to the driver.  
They all made small chit chat about the luxury of the limo and before they knew it they were pulling to a stop.   
“I’ll be right back.” Said Steve getting out and walking to the door where Maria was coming out to meet him. They got back on the road and there was a little bit of awkward silence while everyone except Clint and Natasha watched Steve slouch down to whisper something in her ear. She grinned and bit her lip and then rose up a bit to whisper something back.   
“So are you two having fun over there?” asked Tony with a smirk.  
“As a matter of fact we are.” Maria said with a smile. The rest of the group laughed.  
“So Bruce, how did you find this place?” asked Darcy cutting off the other’s conversation.  
“I may have been there a time or two before…things changed.”  
“So, good food?” asked Clint.  
“Oh delicious,” he said. “I recommend any of the Italian or Thai dishes.”  
“They serve multiple ethnicities?” asked Jane with interest.  
“Oh yes, it is their call to fame in a world of hundreds of 5 star restaurants.”  
“I for one cannot wait to try the Earth delicacy Pollo Diavolo.” Spoke up Thor. Pepper gave a slight wince at his Italian pronunciation.  
When everyone looked at Thor, it was actually Steve that spoke up, “We may have googled the menu.”  
“I’m proud Capsicle, you willingly used the internet.” Said Tony with a genuine smile.  
“Yeah well, just seeing what we had to look forward too.”  
They pulled up in front of the restaurant and the driver opened the door to let everyone out. Tony gave him a couple of bills and told him to be on standby for when they were ready to leave.  
“Yes sir, Mr. Stark.” He said barely looking at the bills he slipped it into a pocket.  
“Okay guys, let’s eat.” Tony said wrapping an arm around Pepper’s waist and leading the way in the restaurant.   
They walked up to the hostess and Bruce stepped forward to talk for the group. “Reservation for Bruce Banner.”  
“Yes sir Mr. Banner, we have your table ready for you.” To her credit she did look at the other members of the group but she made no outward signs that she recognized them besides a slight widening of her eyes.  
“If you could all follow me please, your table is right this way.”  
They took their seats at a rounded table in the back corner and the hostess left them after dropping some menus on the table.   
“Thank you.” Natasha said to Bruce who was sitting next to her.  
“Of course.” He gave a small nod to Barton as well.  
“Hello and welcome. My name is Caleb and I will be your waiter this evening. ” Said their waiter, coming up to the table. “May I interest you in our wine list?”   
“Of course,” said Darcy.   
As she accepted the wine list the waiter told them he would be back to fill their water glasses.  
“So what kind or wine do you people like? I’m leaning toward this 1997 Rotllan Torra Tirant myself.” Darcy said, looking up from the listings.   
“Sounds fine to me.” Bruce said while Darcy handed the list to Natasha.   
“Clint, look at this.” She pointed out something partway down the list.  
“Seriously,” he said, “Well we have to get some.”  
“Care to share?” Maria asked, accepting the menu from Clint.  
“They have a certain French wine named Clos de la Bergerie, that we got to experience once before.”  
“That’s a dry white,” said Pepper. “I’d prefer a red, like Darcy’s choice of the Rotllan.”  
“Lady Potts, you seem to be very knowledgeable about these weaker drink choices.” Observed Thor.  
“I like my wines.” She said simply.  
They continued to pass the list around and when the waiter came back, Tony made the decision for all of them by ordering a bottle of 1997 Rotllan Torra Tirant for Pepper, Darcy, Bruce, and Thor; then proceeded to order a bottle of the 2009 Clos de la Bergerie for Natahsa, Clint, Jane and Maria to share.  
They all ordered different entrees and different desserts as well. They traded bites of food around the table so everyone could try whatever they wanted and Clint told them about an op that Natasha and he had in the French town of Angers which led to them trying the wine in the first place. Pepper choose a 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella to accompany their dessert and they traded random facts and pieces of trivia as they laughed their way through dessert together.   
Everyone was very satisfied from dinner, dessert, and the company as they climbed back into the limo to head home. They stopped and let Maria out at her building and Steve got out walking her to the door.   
“Thanks for inviting me, Steve.”  
“You’re always welcome to join us.” He said giving her a hug before stepping back to let enter her building.  
When they got back to the Tower Bruce told everyone to go change into something comfortable and meet back in the living room. Not even 20 minutes later everyone was sitting in various spots around the room. Thor was taking up one overstuffed chair and Jane was taking up his lap, Steve took the other chair. Tony had a platform built in order to fit 3 couches in the room. Natasha and Clint were on the back couch, Tony and Pepper on the couch blow theirs and Bruce and Darcy took the lowest one. Clint propped his feet up on the back of Tony’s couch and nudged the genius in the side of the head.   
To his credit all Tony did was push his feet down and turn back to the TV; however, when Clint did it again Tony had to open his mouth.  
“Do it again and I’ll get the phasers out, or better yet I won’t finish the upgrades on your arrows.”  
When Clint opened his mouth to protest, a house shoe came flying at him and if not for his reflexes probably would have smacked him in the face.  
“Darcy?” he asked.  
“We’re fixing to start the movie if you could all settle down back there.” She said turning back to the screen, where Bruce was having Jarvis start playing his choice for tonight.  
“So what are we watching, Bruce?” Pepper asked.  
“You’ll see.” He said.  
Everyone settled in as the lights dimmed and the movie started. Tony pulled Pepper to lay down with him, their heads at the opposite end from where Clint was sitting. Clint propped his feet back up and Natasha used his lap as a pillow. Clint looked down and saw Bruce and Darcy were sitting side by side in the middle of their couch, but what he couldn’t see was that they were holding hands. Steve saw them though when he took a moment to look around the room at these people, his team and the ones important to them.  
By the time the movie was over, the only ones still awake were Thor and Steve. They had never seen Twister before and both were hooked all the way to the end. As the lights came back up, they noticed everyone else was sleeping and in a rare moment of understanding they both agreed not to wake them up though not a word was spoken.   
Thor stood up, not even disturbing the sleeping woman in his arms and followed Steve to the elevator.


	4. Steve's Trip

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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“So now will you tell us where we’re headed?” asked Darcy.  
“Nope, It took me a lot to arrange this and I want it to remain a secret for as long as possible.” Said Steve not even looking up from the book he was reading.  
They were on Stark’s private plane #2, only the pilots, Pepper and Steve knew where they were heading.  
Stark bought a second plane for reasons just like this, when the entire team needed to get to the same place. It had a few rows of regular seating and still had the couches and swivel chairs he liked.   
“Well we’re heading West if that helps.” Said Clint, leaning over Natasha to look out the window.  
“Hey Legolas, now that we’re in the air want to look over some designs I made for your arrows?” Stark asked.  
He looked at Natasha who was sitting next to him, playing on her Starkpad.  
“Go, play nice.” She said not looking up.  
He stuck his tongue out at her, and stood up to join Stark on a couch.  
“I’ll cut it out, you do it again.” She said still not looking up.  
By the time they landed, everyone was more than ready to disembark.   
Everyone followed Steve and Pepper over to where a few cars were lined up waiting for them.  
“Okay, everyone in. They will load your luggage for you.” Said Pepper.  
“I still don’t see how it is you get to know where we are going.” Grumbled Tony.  
“Because she can keep a secret and you can’t.” said Bruce patting him on the shoulder and climbing in the car.  
After a little drive, they pulled up at a huge mansion on the side of a cliff. Tony jumped out with a grin on his face. He pulled out his phone and started to reconnect with his home.   
“This is Tony’s Malibu home.” Said Pepper as they watched the front door open on its own.  
They gathered their luggage and followed Tony into the house, most of the group watching in a mix of wonder and amazement as the lights came up, the fireplace started and the waterfall started again as he passed through the living room talking to Jarvis.  
“Wow.” Said Steve turning in a circle to take in the room.  
“The only rule here is no one is allowed in my shop.” Said Tony motioning to the descending stairway partially behind the waterfall.  
Everyone settled into the rooms Pepper showed them too and early the next morning they all gathered back at the cars. Steve had a backpack which he stowed in the trunk of one of the cars. Everyone climbed into the cars and they followed the car Steve, pepper and Tony were in.   
They stopped at a little diner for breakfast and while sitting around drinking coffee, Steve pulled out a stack of folders from the book bag he brought in.   
“Okay guys, we’re going to Disney Land.” He announced with a grin.  
“Seriously!” Darcy Squealed. “OMG, I love you right now Steve.”  
Steve shot a look at Bruce but the other man just rolled his eyes and smiled.  
As everyone looked over the printouts and brochures they talked about the different things they wanted to try and tried to explain Disney to Thor.  
“I personally would like to go visit the Animation Academy or The Disney Gallery, and I think Thor may like Big Thunder Mountain Railway.”  
They continued to talk about some the attractions and make a vague plan for how to hit the top selections for each person.  
When they finally got into the park, they just stood as a group and looked around.  
“Wow.” Said Steve, “It’s so much bigger than I anticipated.”  
“It’s Disney.” Said Jane. “They like the WOW factor.”  
They took off through the park, stopping to look at various things, and getting their fast passes for Space Mountain.   
They stopped and walked through the Disney Gallery for Steve, which was doing an exhibit called Mechanical Kingdoms: Steam-Driven Visions of a Victorian Future. Everyone enjoyed looking at all the Jules Verne steam punk style artwork of classic Disneyland attractions, even if Thor didn’t understand it fully.   
They were just finishing the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and were taking pictures next to the yellow sub when they got the message that their window for Space Mountain had become available. They finished taking the photos they wanted of the sub and the Railroad Station before heading over to skip the line at Space Mountain.   
“Yes, this is supposed to be awesome.” Said Darcy, holding hands with Bruce as they waited in line with others who had the foresight to grab Space Mountain Passes early.  
When they finally disembarked, everyone was grinning and laughing. They decided to head over to Snow White’s Scary Adventure since Natasha and Pepper both wanted to see what it was all about.   
They only had to wait in line for about 40 minutes, during which they got to see the Evil Queen appear every few minutes when the curtains in the window above the entrance were pulled back. When they got almost to the front they came across a golden apple sitting on a pedestal.  
“Hey Thor, dare you to touch it.” Clint said with a smile.  
“What purpose would it serve for me to touch the golden fruit?”  
“Fun.” Was Clint’s easy reply.  
“Go on Pointbeak, what’s the worst that could happen.” Tony offered.  
“Very well.” He stepped out of line and walked up to it.  
“Go Thor.” Called Jane.  
He shot her a grin and taking a breath, reached out and laid a hand on the golden apple. Before he could turn back to the group the Evil Queen’s voice rang out with an evil laugh. Thor gave a sign of alarm and practically tripped over his feet trying to get back to Jane’s side. As the group leaned on each other laughing, their little party moved even closer to the entrance.   
When the ride vehicles came up, they saw that they were designed to look like the Dwarves beds. After a little ribbing and good natured bards, they settled into their seats to enjoy the ride. And yes, they did enjoy it.  
They did the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk through for Jane and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for Thor. Clint wanted to do the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade, which he excelled at of course. After lunch, Bruce wanted to do the Indiana Jones Adventure which they all agreed was pretty cool even though they had to wait in line for two hours to do it.  
They went to do the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as well before finding themselves back at the entrance to the park. They grabbed a couple of tables outside an ice cream shop and after getting their favorite choices, they sat down to decide what to do next.   
They finally decided to stay and experience the Diamond Mad T Party, but since they had a little bit of time to kill, they started drifting through the park once more. They managed to catch the Dapper Dan show and the Five and Dime experience.   
They headed back to enjoy an area of more teenager-adult fun, by joining other older groups at the Mad T Party. As soon as they entered they were assaulted by some rock-n-roll music accompanied by pulsing neon lights.   
“Here’s where we have some real fun.” Said Tony taking his sunglasses off.  
“Sorry Tony, no alcohol.” Said Pepper with a smirk.  
“I know, many many kids around, doesn’t mean we can’t still have tons of fun here.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor. Darcy pulled Bruce out to the floor as well, and they were followed by Thor asking Jane to dance in this new unusual way.  
“My feet hurt, what do you boys say we head over to that section,” Natasha pointed to a doorway in the far wall, “and get something cold to drink, maybe even play a game.”   
Of course the remaining two members of her team followed her as she turned to leave them. They ducked under a sign reading House of Cards and found a table to stake as theirs. They had tv screens up, linked to some handheld gaming systems so everyone could see their scores and compete better against each other.  
“Ya’ll want to play?” asked Steve, tilting his head toward the screen.  
Natasha declined, but Clint asked for two controllers from the waitress that came by to take drink orders.  
They were playing Disney Trivia, and Natasha was helping Steve beat Clint when the rest of the group showed up behind them.  
“So, the Widow is a secret Disney fan.” Smirked Tony, motioning a waitress over.  
“Not a secret Tony, what do you think we do on girl nights?” she asked with a grin to the ladies of the group.  
“Oh, I have many ideas of what you do on girl’s night, but sitting around watching cartoon kid movies is not in the top half of that list.”  
“Shut up Tony.” Ordered Pepper.  
“So, fireworks anyone?” asked Jane, to break up the silence that followed.  
“Yes!” Steve seized on that idea and so the group left to go find a spot outside in which to watch the huge nightly display.  
All the couples were standing together, and Steve was behind them all, just observing, when the fireworks started going off. He was so engrossed in the display that he was ignoring the crowd around them. He didn’t notice the extra movement around him until he felt someone else’s arm wrap around his.  
“Thank you Steve.” Said Natasha, looking at his face before letting her gaze slide up to the show still going on.  
“We needed a day like this.” Spoke up Clint from the other side of Natasha.  
“You’re welcome.” He said before casting an observing eye over his team.  
Tony had his head tucked into the side of Pepper’s neck with his arms clasped in front of her.  
Thor was standing next to Jane with his arm wrapped around her shoulder while she leaned into him.  
Bruce and Darcy were simply standing side by side holding hands.   
Although he couldn’t see their faces, since they were turned up to the brilliantly lit up night sky, he could tell by their stances that they were relaxed. He assumed that meant his mission had been successful.   
After the show they decided to browse some of the gift shops that had remained open late to catch some last minute sales.  
“Hey Nat, we have to get this for Fury.” Called Clint, holding up a Mickey Mouse plush dressed up like a pirate.   
“Sign it from all of us and I’ll buy it.” Butted in Tony.  
“I take no part in that.” Put in Jane.  
“I will.” Jumped in Darcy.  
“So one pirate Mickey it is.” Clint said with a smile.  
They all left with their souvenirs and loaded into the cars to head back to the house.  
Everyone offered their thanks to Steve before heading straight off to bed; the magically day they shared together wore everyone out.  
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A/N: I’ve never been to Disneyland, so everything I wrote came courtesy of Google.   
A/N: I'm pretty sure some of the exhibits and things mentioned have changed since I originally wrote this several years ago, i just didn't want to go back and rewrite everything, sorry.


	5. Clint andNat's Turn pt1

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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Everyone was sitting around a conference table at SHIELD HQ waiting on Fury to show up for their latest debrief.  
“Well, well, well.” He said striding in with Maria close behind. “Glad to see everyone on time for once.” He said looking at Tony and Clint who both made it a habit to be late to these meetings.  
“Yes well, we have plans for this week as long as no one calls us to go save the world again.” Said Tony.  
“I am perfectly aware of your plans, Stark. So how about we get this show on the road so you can leave already.” He said opening a folder off the top of his stack.  
Maria started typing on her tablet as the debrief got under way. Two hours later Bruce and Tony had both filled several sheets of papers with complex equations, Clint had started tearing pieces of paper and forming balls to through at things. Natasha was pointing out targets for Clint to hit and even Steve had started doodling on his notepad. Fury closed his folder with a sigh and looked around the group. He could tell they were tired and needed a break.  
“Ok Avengers, the Iowa property is yours for the week. Barton, Romanoff, you know the rules and how things work out there. I hope no one gets too badly injured.” He stood up, “Also, I’m sending Agent Hill along since she works the closest with you all.”  
“Sir.” Maria stated, “That isn’t necessary.”  
“I know, but I’m sending you anyways. At least I can trust you to keep an eye on things and not let them get killed.” He walked out of the room with Hill jumping up to follow, still protesting this new order.  
Everyone turned to stare at the two resident SHIELD agents.   
“I thought you said we were going to a training facility?” asked Steve.  
“It is a SHIELD facility, Steve. Don’t worry, we won’t do the hard stuff.” Clint smirked.  
“If SHIELD agents can do it, then we can most certainly do it.” Said Thor.   
Maria showed back up in the doorway, “Well since I’m going with you guys. We will take a Quin jet and leave at 06:30 tomorrow.” She turned on her heel on walked away.  
“Okay guys, let’s go pack.” Said Natasha getting up to leave.  
It was only the promise of Bruce and Steve making breakfast for everyone that got them up and out of bed the next morning.   
“This is an awful hour to be alive.” Said Tony as he followed Pepper into the kitchen.  
She rolled her eyes and filled two travel coffee cups with fresh coffee.   
Everyone else was already sitting around the table or in Natasha’s case sitting on the counter. Clint was leaning against the counter with a plate of food already in hand. Every other bite he would lift to his shoulder for Nat to eat.  
“Food?” asked Steve from his spot at the stove.  
“Yes please.” Said Pepper.  
Tony started a conversation with Pepper that based on her expression they had already had a few times.  
“All I’m saying is you could take a week off and come with. The company isn’t going to fall apart without you.”  
“And I’ve told you, I’ve got multiple meetings with clients this week, some that have already been rescheduled once before. As much as I would love to see you attempt these SHIELD courses I have other responsibilities.”   
“But…Wait, what do you mean attempt? As I believe Pointbreak has already stated, if SHIELD agents can pass these courses, whatever they are, the Avengers will totally rock it.” He stated.  
“You’ll find out what they are when we get there.” Said Natasha.  
“Speaking of, Maria just texted me and said she’s on her way in the jet. We better get cleaned up and get our bags to the landing pad.” Said Steve, already loading the dishwasher.  
Twenty minutes later everyone was assembled on the pad watching Maria land the jet. When the back hatch opened they loaded their belongings and Tony stepped back out to kiss Pepper bye.   
“Be safe and have fun.” She said hugging him tightly.  
This was going to be the longest they had been apart since they started dating.  
“Yes, ma’am.” He dropped a kiss to the side of her head before pulling back to look at her. “Take care Pep, I love you.”  
“I love you too Tony.” They stood there for a moment just looking at each other. “Will that be all Mr. Stark?” she let a smile come through at the familiar question.  
“That will be all Miss. Potts.” He said kissing her once more before turning and reentering the jet.  
The back hatch closed and the jet lifted once more and headed east.  
Clint was acting as primary pilot and Nat was co pilot. They had flown this route many times before, so there was no need for anyone to sit in the navigation seat behind the cockpit area. Natasha glanced behind them to see everyone had a tablet in their hands except for Thor who appeared to be sleeping.  
“Lively bunch aren’t they?” she asked Clint through their headsets.   
“Just wait until they see the place.” He said with a smirk, flipping a couple of switches to engage the autopilot function before turning around in the chair. “We should be there in an hour and a half.” He said to the group.  
“Where is it we’re going exactly?” asked Bruce.  
“That’s classified.” Said Maria, “Unless Clint wants to share with the class.”  
“Thanks, Hill.” He said gruffly.  
“What does the Hawk have to do with this fair state of Iowa?” asked Thor.  
“This facility is new for SHIELD,” started Clint. “They are leasing about 300 acres, from me, to use for training purposes. They have indoor facilities as well as multiple outdoor areas coded for different things.”  
“So, if you care to tell us, how did you come to own this property Legolas?” asked Tony.  
“It’s family property, been in my family for generations.”   
“And you didn’t know what to do with it, so you gave it to SHEILD.” Steve stated.  
“I’m leasing it to SHIELD, and they let me oversee the design of the training programs and facilities. Also they have no control over the backside of the hills. That’s where my farmhouse is, along with another almost hundred acres of farmland.”  
“You farm?” asked a surprised Bruce.  
“Not yet.” He smirked. “Not home long enough to do anything, so for now I’m leasing the fields as well.”  
“Okay boys, about another hour and we will be there.” Natasha announced finally turning her seat around to survey the group.  
“So what kinds of training do you do there?” asked Steve.  
“Well we have indoor and outdoor shooting ranges, a state of the art work out building, indoor and outdoor tracks, indoor swimming pool, a hiking trail, and three different obstacle courses. We also have an entire hillside dedicated to wilderness training complete with traps and pitfalls.” Maria explained.  
Natasha added, “And for those that want to relax there is also a basketball court and a baseball field.”   
“And a couple of buildings with different layouts designed to help agents get used to clearing buildings and whatnot.” Clint finished.   
“And you expect us to try everything?” Bruce asked.  
“At least once.” Said Natasha with a smirk.  
“Bring it.” Said Tony  
“Were here.” Said Clint, “landing in five.”  
Everyone buckled back into their seats and waited for the back hatch to open before gathering their bags and disembarking.  
“If you’ll come this way, the residence hall is down this path.” Hill said already walking away from the jet, leaving Clint to lock it down.  
“I hate being here and not staying at the house.” Natasha said waiting for Clint to finish his after flight check.  
He grabbed his bag in one hand and circled her waist with the other. “I know.” He dropped a kiss to her upturned lips before stepping away to follow Hill and the team.  
When they reached what SHIELD agents affectionately called the barracks, they went to find the team. Hill had given them rooms on the first floor and it had already been decided that Clint and Natasha would stay on the bottom level as well, even though they both preferred the top floor.  
When everyone had unpacked they gathered in the hallway to decide what to do first.  
“We actually have a plan.” Said Clint, “follow me.” He walked out of the barracks and started down a path towards a small building.   
“This is the main office for this training site.” Explained Maria, as they entered the building.  
Clint brought them into a small room off to the side of the main entrance where he pulled down a map from the ceiling. It had a blue star off to the left marking the building they were currently in. He proceeds to explain where everything was and gave them the tentative game plan for the week.  
They explored the area together, while their resident SHIELD agents told stories about past training experiences. They headed back to the main area and entered one of the indoor training areas.   
“Okay, the guy’s locker room is to the right, ladies to the left. There are always spare workout clothes available if you want to change.” Clint said before leading the guys through a set of doors and down a hall.  
When they all reconvened back in the main area they found out they were going to run the indoor obstacle courses.   
“So I’ll go first and show you how it’s done.” Clint said. When Nat yelled go, he took off running. He climbed ropes, jumped through a path of tires, crawled under a length of chain length fence supported on posts, swung across monkey bars and finished by scaling a rock wall and jumping down onto mat.  
Nat tossed him a bottle of water from the fridge in the corner. “A little slow there Hawk.”  
“Just letting them get a good eye of the proper way to do it.” He grinned.   
“So what is the purpose of this?” asked Thor.  
“The purpose of this is to work on your agility, speed and strength. This is just the basic course, they get harder from here. Agents usually use this as a warm up exercise.”  
“Seems easy enough.” Steve said still surveying the course.  
“So who wants to go first?” Maria asked.  
“I will, if only to get the embarrassment out of the way first.” Bruce said.  
“You shall perform admirably Dr. Banner.” Thor said.  
“Thanks, I think.” He said waiting for Natasha to say go.  
Everyone took turns and all had a good laugh when Tony tripped on a tire. They ran the course once more before moving two buildings down to do the next level. The set up was close to the other one but it had giant barrels inlaid in the floor for them to climb over and a giant trench dug into the floor with posts to jump on in order to cross, there were wide spaced monkey bars that were on an incline so when the person got to the end they had to shimmy down a rope to get back to the ground.   
“So this is slightly harder than the last one.” Maria said before lining up to show them how to do it.  
They proceeded to spend the next two days trying every course available before Clint made an announcement at dinner on their third night.   
“So tomorrow, Maria is going to drop us off at an undisclosed location and we are going to spend however long it takes trekking through the forest until we reach our target.”  
“Our target?” asked Bruce.  
“Really, Wilderness training 101?” asked Tony.  
“Really, and NO tech Stark.” Said Maria. “I will drop you and three book bags with different supplies inside each. All you will know is the coordinates of your target.”  
“So what is the purpose of this exercise, have we not already shown that we can work together to get out of situations before? Is there a case where we might be stranded in the woods and cannot get out?” inquired Thor.  
“You never know what might come up on one of your missions.” Maria said, “SHIELD likes its agents to be prepared for any possible outcome.”  
“So is there anything we need to do to prepare for this outing?” Bruce asked.  
“Nope, just get a good night’s sleep.” Maria said with a smirk.   
“In case you missed it, Maria is in charge of this next part of training, and she can be pretty creative when it comes to these exercises.” Clint said.  
“I take it, you’re not joining us on this little outing.” Steve said to her.  
“As much as I would love to see Stark fumbling around in the woods, I am sitting this one out. This is to see how the Avengers will react if you ever get stranded together.”   
“Why am I always getting picked on, do you guys really not think I can manage in the great outdoors?” Tony asked.  
“Because you’ve never spent time in the outdoors.” Said Clint.  
“Tony, I’m sure you will be fine. We’ll keep the bears away from you.” Steve said.  
“Nice Spangles, thanks for the vote of confidence.”   
“I think it’s time for bed.” Natasha said from where she was cleaning up the kitchen.   
“I concur, it’s always best to rest before a big undertaking.” Thor said.  
After everyone had retired to their rooms for the night, Natasha received a message on her phone.  
“Maria’s coming over.” She told Clint who was coming out of the bathroom.  
A few minutes later the door opened and Maria walked in with her phone in hand.  
“So everything is set for when you get there.” Maria said.  
“Everyone?” asked Clint.  
“Yep, and I will be following your progress via the cameras.”   
“Recording?” asked Natasha.  
“Of course.” She said with a smirk.  
“Excellent. Oh, I can’t wait.” Clint said.  
“Well you better get some sleep; I’m sounding the wakeup call in four hours.” She slipped out of the room.


	6. Nat and Clint part 2

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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When Maria set the barrack alarms off she couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she watched various Avengers run into the hall to find the problem. Picking up the phone she made her announcement.  
“Avengers, you have a new mission, be at the jet in 10 minutes.” The alarm cut off as she replaced the phone.  
Everyone grumbled, Tony louder than anyone, but they walked back into their rooms to get dressed. They all made it to the jet with a couple of minutes to spare.   
“Okay team, your mission is to locate your target. It lies east from the drop off point; you have 3 days to make it to the target where instead of making a hit, a surprise will be waiting for you. There are your bags, drop off is in 3 minutes.”  
“And how are we getting off this thing?” asked Bruce.  
“Parachutes are on the wall.”   
“Let’s suit up.” Steve said starting to hand out parachutes.  
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Bruce muttered.  
“If only I had Mojolnir with me, I wouldn’t have to bother with this mortal device.”   
“Yeah yeah, you’ve told us that like a hundred times while we were learning how to use these.” Said Tony strapping himself into his chute. “Couldn’t we have waited for daylight?”  
“Oh but where would the fun be then?” asked a sarcastic Bruce.  
Steve walked around everyone making sure things were strapped right so there would be no accidents in the air. Maria pushed the button for the hatch to open, while Clint, Steve and Natasha grabbed the supply bags and they all lined up to jump out.   
Clint and Natasha landed right after each other, and after taking off their chutes they started looking for the team. Thanks to Thor’s booming voice, everyone met up at the tree he had gotten stuck in.  
“Really Pointbreak?” asked Tony.  
“I demand someone get me down from here.”  
“Hold on Thor, let’s see if we have something to cut you down with.” Said Clint as he and Natasha started to dig through their bags. Steve followed their lead and came up with a Swiss army knife.  
Clint accepted the knife and scaled the tree to cut him down. He then proceeded to climb up into the tree top as far as he could.   
“Okay, we need to head that way.” He said to the group dropping back down next to them.  
“And you deduced this from what? A bird told you?” asked Tony.  
“Actually I just looked for which part of the sky was starting to turn light meaning the sun was coming up, duh.”   
“That makes sense.” Said Bruce.  
“Come on guys let’s get going.” Said Steve, shouldering his bag.  
They traveled a good bit in the next few hours, mostly in silence, which surprised Natasha. She expected whining and grumbling from at least Tony and some from even Thor, but the two resident loud mouths were blissfully silent.   
“Hey, does anyone else hear running water?”asked Bruce, his words bringing the rest of the group to a stop as they all listened.   
“Yeah, I do, from that direction.” Said Steve nodding off to the left of their current heading.  
“I vote we head that way and take a break, I’m getting thirsty.” Said Tony.  
They walked a few minutes before coming across a little creek. While Tony and Thor gulped down water the others started laying out the items from the book bags.   
“Shouldn’t we have done this at the beginning, before we headed into the woods?” asked Bruce.  
“You mean when it was just barely light out and we were having trouble seeing?” asked Clint in return.  
“Oh yeah.” He said turning and joining the others at the water.  
They laid everything out and it turned out they didn’t have much to work with. They had three bottles of water, some jerky, a couple of MRE’s a small notebook, a pen, the Swiss army knife, a Ziploc bag with some fishing line in it, a small flashlight with batteries, a deck of playing cards, a fist aid kit with a bottle of aspirin, a tube of chap stick, a tarp, a couple of sheets of foil, a roll of trash bags, two space blankets, a bunch of packets of peanuts, a bow saw, a baggie with matches, a pair of pliers, a pair of gloves, some rubber bands, and a laser pointer.  
“So that’s everything.” Said Steve.  
“Not very much for three bags.” Observed Thor.  
“Well, Maria didn’t want to make it too easy on us I guess.” Said Clint.  
“So what now?” asked Bruce.  
“Now we come up with a plan for getting food over the next few days. Thor could eat all of this for a snack and still eat 6 boxes of poptarts.” Said Steve.  
“We got that.” Said Clint picking up the bow saw and heading into the nearby tree line while Natasha pulled out some of the fishing line, the gloves, the knife and the pliers to follow.  
“They are so weird sometimes.” Said Tony.  
Steve handed everyone some jerky while they waited for the spies to come back.  
“You don’t think they’re going out on their own to leave us stranded here?” asked Tony after about twenty five minutes.  
“You yes, but we wouldn’t do that to them, although I bet they could find their way out.” Natasha said coming up behind them.  
“Ha ha, very funny. Where’s Legolas?” responded Tony.  
“Hunting.”  
“Of course he is.”  
“Upset that someone else is more knowledgeable?”  
“Not at all, if bird boy wants to take out a bird or a squirrel, more power to him.”  
“Bird boy actually has already captured a couple of rabbits for lunch later.” Said Clint coming out of the tree line with a bow in one hand and a couple of rabbits in the other.  
“You made a bow.” Bruce observed  
“Of course, it would never work in a big fight, but for short stints it should do the job fine.”  
“And you make the arrows as needed?”  
“Yes.”  
“Of course.”  
“So what do we do next?” asked Thor.  
“I vote we follow the water supply until we can’t anymore. Clint can follow parallel to us in the woods, trying to hunt bigger game, we go as far as we can before needing to take a break for food, wherein we will build a fire to cook it.” Said Steve handing Natasha and Clint their share of the jerky.  
“I vote we follow Steve’s plan.” Said Bruce. “Unless the spies have a different plan, no offense Steve.”  
“None taken, they have been here before, so they may have better information.”  
“I think Steve’s plan is best, but I don’t know how much big game I’m going to get with this.” Clint said lifting up his bow and the couple of arrows he had made.  
“Drink up boys, let’s get going.” Said Nat.  
They managed to make it pretty far and still keep in sight of the water. Every so often Clint would pop in next to them to walk with Natasha and to hand off more rabbits and a couple of squirrels that he managed to get.  
They finally decided to break for lunch when they came across Clint sitting by the water cleaning the animals.  
“Want some help?” asked Bruce going to sit next to him.  
“You know what to do?” he asked letting a little skepticism show on his face.  
“I was on the run for a while, I couldn’t exactly walk into a restaurant and sit down to eat.”   
“Okay doc, take over for a bit.” Clint turned over the knife Nat had slipped him earlier and went off to talk to the others.  
“Thor, Tony, we will go find wood to start a fire.” Said Steve dropping his bag next to the other two.   
As the guys went off into the woods, and Bruce was preoccupied with cleaning the rabbits, Clint and Natasha went back down the waterline a little bit. They took their shoes and socks off and sat on the bank with their feet in the water.   
By the time the guys had come back with wood, and Steve had shown Thor had to build a fire, Bruce had the meat piled on a trash bag ready to cook.  
“Come on you two, it’s time to cook lunch.” Called Bruce.  
Clint graciously took off his tee shirt so they could dry their feet off before making their way back to the group. He tossed his shirt over a low limb to dry.   
“Let’s wrap the meat in the foil to cook, just push it into the base of the fire.”  
While they waited for the food to cook Clint showed them how he made the bow by making another one and giving it to Bruce. They all took turns making arrows for them and then took turns shooting at the trees where they found out that Bruce actually had a decent shot.  
After they ate, Clint redressed and headed back into the woods, this time with Bruce in tow. Several hours later the group realized that they hadn’t seen or heard from Clint or Bruce since they went into the woods. They continued walking through the woods when they came across an arrow in the side of a tree.  
“Well at least we know they were here.” Said Steve as they gathered around it before continuing.   
After the sun started to go down, Steve noticed a glow coming through the trees.  
“Let’s go see what’s going on.”  
They came into a small clearing where Bruce and Clint were sitting around a fire cooking something on a spit they constructed.  
“Hey guys, long time no see.” Tony said dropping down next to Bruce.  
“What is this creature?” asked Thor staring at the roasting meat.  
“Well, we managed to take down a deer.” Said Clint wrapping an arm around Natasha’s shoulders.  
“Venison, yum.” Said Steve, “Before it gets too dark, let’s set up camp.”  
They rolled the tarp out on the ground and anchored it with big rocks Thor found. Natasha spread the space blankets out on top while the guys went and gathered more wood to keep the fire going all night.  
They started up a game of poker which, thanks to Darcy and Jane, Thor already knew how to play. Steve elected to tend the fire and filled the time the meat was cooking with drawing in the little notebook Maria had provided them.  
By the time dinner had been eaten and everyone had cleaned up in the creek, they were using the flashlight to see by. They stood around the tarp and stared at it.  
“So who sleeps where?” asked Tony.  
“Well, the temperature is dropping, and since we don’t feel the cold as much as you guys, if it’s okay with Thor, we will take the outside.”Steve said.  
“That sounds admirable.” replied Thor.  
“Look, let’s go Steve, Clint, Bruce, Tony, Thor.”  
“And where are you going to be Natasha, next to Steve or Bruce?” asked Tony.  
“As long as I’m not going to be next to you, I don’t really care.” She remarked.  
“Let’s go to bed guys, we need to get up early.”  
They all crawled under the blankets and after Bruce apologized for kicking Natasha they settled in to sleep.  
“There aren’t any bears in these woods are there?” came Tony’s voice out of the darkness.  
“Don’t worry if they are, I’m sure Thor could wrestle it down.” Clint said, tucking his face into Natasha’s hair.   
“Good night guys.” Steve said.  
They got up with the sun and had some of the leftover meat for breakfast. Clint and Bruce headed back into the woods as the rest of the group packed up camp before following them.  
The day progressed about the same as the previous one. They had rabbit for dinner and kept the same sleeping arraignment as before. When they got up on the third day, Clint and Bruce stayed with the group since they estimated they were close to their target. They finished the jerky and peanuts for breakfast before heading out.   
“Hey, do the trees seem to be thinning out to you?” asked Tony.  
“Not really.” Came Bruce’s reply as he looked around.  
They kept going for another hour before they broke through the tree line on top of a hill.  
“Is that?” started Steve.  
“Yep, our farmhouse.” Said Clint sharing a grin with Natasha.  
“Awesome, let’s go.” Tony said starting down the hillside.  
They made it to the bottom and realized the stream they had been following was connected to a giant lake that they needed to cross. They followed the lake most of the way around until it narrowed back into the stream that they simply crossed and continued to the house.  
“Come on in guys, welcome to our home.” Clint said opening the door and stepping in.  
They all filed in and stopped at the sight of a group of people waiting on them.  
“Lady Jane!” said Thor walking right to her and picking her up in a bear hug.  
“Hey Tony.” Pepper spoke up as the inventor made his way to her.   
“Have fun?” Darcy asked as she walked over to Bruce.  
“I did actually.” He said as she hugged him.  
“I can’t wait to hear the stories but you guys need a shower.” Said Pepper.  
“Well, since Natasha has already sneaked off to one of them, we have three more but one of them is outside.” Clint said. “Let me show you to your rooms and I’ll show you the showers.”  
Everyone followed the smells of food as they came out of the showers to the giant kitchen slash dining room where the ladies had prepared dinner for them.  
During dinner there was a knock on the door, Maria went to answer it and came back in with Director Fury.   
“Well, it’s nice to see everyone is still here, and there weren’t any injuries.” He said looking around the group. “We have the camera feeds all set up to review after you all get done eating.”   
“Camera feeds? You were filming us?” Tony asked.  
“I did not see any recording devices while we were out there.” Steve said.  
“I still do not understand the need to spy on your friends Director.” Thor added.  
“Of course we have recording devices out there. This is a SHIELD training area after all.”  
The group adjourned to the living room as the ladies cleaned up from dinner, which they insisted on doing. When they returned to the team they were all carrying bowls of ice cream, enough for everyone.  
They had a good time watching the footage of themselves, Pepper had a good laugh when they saw Tony fall during that first day of running courses.   
“That’s kind of hot.” Darcy whispered to Bruce when they saw him take over preparing the meat for dinner.  
“Really?”  
She just gave him a half grin and shrugged her shoulders before leaning more fully into him.  
When the feeds ended, everyone sat around sharing more details about what had happened and poking fun at each other.  
“Well I enjoyed that, but I have to head out.” Fury stood up to leave.  
Maria stood up too, “Permission to go with, sir?”   
“Granted, Agent Hill, Agent Barton, we are leaving the second jet in its usual location. Avengers, you are on downtime until such time as you are needed. You do not have to stay here, but we would like you to stay in touch.” He turned and left.  
Clint and Natasha offered them rooms for as long as they wanted. After debating it, the group, along with their significant others would stay a couple more days at the farm before going back to New York.  
As Clint got ready for bed, Natasha wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his back.   
“You did good.”  
“We did good.”


	7. Thor's Day

A/N: I own nothing related to MARVEL except my merchandise  
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“I wish to explore this city of noise with my friends.” Thor said.  
And that is how the Avengers found themselves on Broadway Street waiting for their tour guide to show up.  
“Hey guys my name is Keith and I will be your guide for today.”  
“Hello, Keith. We cannot wait to partake in this wondrous city of York.”  
“Awesome dude. Well if you will follow me we will begin in Times Square.”  
Thor walked with the tour guide and Jane asking questions while everyone else followed.  
When they made it to Times Square everyone stopped for their guide to put out different aspects of the area.   
“This is one of the world’s busiest intersections, sometimes called The Center of the Universe.”  
“I have seen parts of the universe and this is not the center.” Thor said.   
“Well not literally, it’s just a figure of speech.” Keith said. “So we have 1 Astor Plaza which is home to MTV’s studios, Bank of America Tower, Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is over there, The New York Times Tower which gave Times Square its name in 1904, the iconic Coca-Cola sign, The Hard Rock Café of New York, There’s Times Square Studios which is home of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and ABBC’s Good Morning America just to list a few things from here.”  
“Watch this.” Said Tony, fiddling with his phone.  
Before he could do whatever he was planning, Steve took his phone right out of his hands.   
“Not today Stark.”  
“Give me my phone Spangles.”  
“Not until you swear you will not manipulate anything technological today. Pepper told me to call her if you try to act up. This is Thor’s day.”  
“And all I was going to was change that billboard, right there, to say Welcome Thor.”  
“Really?”  
“Yes. Can I please have my phone back?”  
Steve handed his phone back more out of shock at Tony saying please than anything else.  
“No screwing with New York Tony.” Said Natasha from behind them.  
“Fine, I’ll only use my phone for phone calls today.”  
“Thank you.” Steve said walking over to where the guide was going over some of the history of the square.   
They walked around the area, and after taking the usual tourist photos they began to head toward Central Park.  
“Now Central Park is the most visited urban park in the U.S and one of the most filmed locations in the world.” Keith started as they came to one of the entrances to the park.  
“Hey Thor, can we take our picture on that bridge?” asked Jane wrapping her arms around one of his and leaning into him.  
“Of course Lady Jane. Anything you wish, I shall make happen.”  
After Jane and Thor, Bruce and Darcy went up to have their picture taken.  
“Now Central Park has 36 bridges and no two are alike.” Keith said as the second couple rejoined the group.  
“Well that’s two couple down, you two are next.” Said Tony to Clint and Natasha.  
“Yeah I don’t think so Stark.” Natasha shot him down.  
“Yeah, not our style.”  
“Your style is to avoid photographs all together.”  
“Exactly.” Clint said.  
“If our friends do not want to have their happiness photographed than we shall honor their wishes.” Thor said defending them.  
“Thank you Thor, but we actually have a different setting in mind for a picture.” Natasha said.  
“Let it be known and we will help you.”  
“Yeah, let’s head over to the Bethesda Terrace.” Clint said.  
“Ah the Terrace, it is a personal favorite of mine.” Keith said, leading the way. “It is two levels, which are united by two grand staircases.”  
“We want a picture in the lower terrace tunnel.” Natasha said.  
They made their way to the lower level and after using Tony offering autographs as bait to draw out the other people in it, Darcy took the picture they wanted; just them holding each other in the center surrounded by the carved sandstone, granite steps and roman bricks.  
“So if you’re ready, we can head to Greenwich Village next.” Keith offered.  
After everyone assented they began walking out of the park toward the west side of Manhattan.  
“So Greenwich Village is simply referred to as The Village by the locals, it’s known as an artists’ haven, the Bohemian capital and the birthplace of the East Coast ‘60’s counterculture movement. It is also the home of New York University.” Keith explained.  
“Fancy.” Said Jane looking around.  
“Last year, all four zipcodes that make up the village were all ranked among the ten most expensive in the U.S.”  
“That’s cool.”  
“The view isn’t as good as mine.” Tony said.  
“If you all want to come this way, I have something to show you.”   
They followed Keith over several blocks to stop outside a large building.  
“This is the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. Since this is a private group and we have all day, if you would like we can take a trip through their exhibition gallery.”  
They decided to go in and observe some pretty awesome contemporary art pieces.  
As they exited the building, they agreed there were some really good pieces in the gallery. They continued walking around the Village stopping to let Thor take all the random photos he wanted. They followed Keith to Washington Square Park. As they stopped by the Washington Square Arch, Keith took their photo while telling them some random facts about the area.  
“So the fountain area is popular for both residents and tourists, most of the surrounding buildings belong to NYU now, but the majority of them served as homes and studios for artists, the park as a long tradition of celebrating nonconformity and the NYC police department operates security cameras here as well as having security officers from the city parks department patrol the park.”  
They let Thor take more photos and took some of Thor, Jane and Bruce, Darcy in front of the fountain.  
Darcy took the camera from Thor and snapped some candid shots of the rest of the group, getting a good one of Steve pushing Tony into the fountain which caused everyone to lean on each other laughing as Tony tried to push Steve back but he didn’t even budge.  
They headed over to the southwest corner where they had a bunch of chess tables set up. They convinced Bruce to play at one of the open tables against an older man who was eating a bunch of grapes.   
He won.  
Darcy took photos.  
They passed through Soho, headed towards Little Italy and a place to eat lunch.  
“Little Italy used to be a large swath of real estate but now is basically down to like three blocks. There are more tourists than locals here now, but there are a couple of groups trying to preserve what little Italian is actually left here.”  
“I require sustenance.” Thor said.  
“How many times do we have to go over this? Simply say, I’m hungry.”  
“I am hungry.” Thor replied.  
“Yeah, got that.” Tony said.  
“There’s actually a pretty good place right down here.” Keith said.  
“Ferrara Café.” Natasha read the sign.  
A little over an hour later, the group made their way back down the sidewalk heading toward Chinatown.  
“Chinatown is the home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, It is one of the oldest ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia. They used to speak primarily Cantonese but in the 1990’s they started speaking Mandarin after an influx of new immigrants.”  
They walked through a couple of grocery stores on the way to Canal Street to shop through knock off products.   
“Oh my goodness, look at this!” called Darcy to the group.  
Bruce and she were standing at a stall looking at artwork. She pulled a framed poster out and was staring at it with a grin.   
“What on Earth?” Clint said coming up behind them with Natasha.   
“Seriously?” asked Tony taking the poster from Darcy.  
It was a picture of the avengers as cats.  
“No.” Natasha said.  
“Too bad, my find, I’m getting it.” Darcy said snatching it back from Tony.  
After some friendly bantering, they continued through the stalls making their way toward the World Trade Center site.   
“The 9/11 Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial Museum were erected to commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks and the 1993 WTC bombing. It is operated by a non-profit corporation whose mission is to raise funds for, program, own and operate the memorial and museum. They held an international competition to design the memorial, and the winning design is called Reflecting Absence, which is what we see today.” Keith said.  
They came to the South Pool first and stood together in silence, observing the pool in front of them and the oak trees surrounding them.  
Jane and Keith stayed with Thor explaining about 9/11 while the rest of the group headed towards the parapets surrounding the waterfall.  
“They inscribed all the names of the people that perished in the attacks on these parapets.” Keith said as they rejoined the group.  
“Hey Clint.” Natasha said reaching out to touch one of the names.  
“I’ve missed him.” He said wrapping both arms around her as their friends gathered to read the name Nat was still touching.  
“Care to share?” asked Tony.  
“He was a member of SHIELD, undercover at the time of the attacks. He was lead on our main extraction team for several years before deciding to take a more active role in the field.” Clint said.  
“He was pretty awesome.” Nat added with a smile, letting her hands fall to Clint’s, still in front of her.  
They stood there for a moment more before heading toward the museum.   
“I love that.” Steve said reading the third line of the mission statement as they passed by the sign.  
“Recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save others, and the compassion of all who supported us in our darkest hour.” Darcy read to the group.  
“That is an awesome line.” Keith said. “The museum is this way when you are ready.”  
Jane took a photo of the sign and they went on their way.  
They stopped to take a photo of the Survivor Tree.  
“The Survivor Tree was 8 foot tall, badly burned and had only one living branch when it was recovered. It had originally been planted in the 70’s near building 4 and 5.” Keith told them.  
“The museum is underground and has over 23,000 images, 10,300 artifacts, 2,000 oral histories, and over 500 hours of video. The museum is designed to evoke memories without additional distress, particularly to first responders and the families of victims.” He recited as they entered the museum.  
Keith let everyone spread out to take it all in at their leisure while he stood by the Final Steel in the center of the room. He always ended his tours here; it always gave his groups a chance to reflect on the important things in life. He loved doing these tours, no matter what the group dynamic was during the day, by the end, in here, they always went quiet, always stood with their loved ones. It was always refreshing to see, after the hustle and bustle of big city life.   
“It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?” asked Tony coming up next to Keith. “Don’t answer that. You’ve been great today, taking care of all of Thor’s questions.”  
“I love sharing facts about the city. It’s been a pleasure working for you all today.”  
“Thanks for not fawning all over us, we needed that.” He handed some folded bills to Keith, “I’ve got it from here, you’re free to leave.” Tony walked away and joined Bruce and Darcy at a video screen.  
Keith pocketed the money and made his way over to a part of the wall covered in photos where he stood for a moment; paying his respects to some friends he really missed.  
“It’s hard sometimes.” Steve said coming up behind Keith.   
“Yes.”  
Steve patted him on the shoulder, before moving away.  
They spent a couple of hours moving at their own pace around the museum before regrouping at one of the many benches scattered through the main room.  
“Let’s go home.” Clint said as they started making their way outside.  
“Ray’s for dinner?” Tony asked already pulling out his phone to order.  
They made it back to Avenger’s Tower at the same time the pizza guy was getting there. Making their way into the common kitchen, Pepper was already there with plates out.   
“Missed you today.” Tony said giving her a kiss.  
They set around the table sharing stories and having a good laugh at each other before retiring to the living room.  
“Thank you all for sharing you’re city with me.” Thor announced.  
“Anytime, buddy. Maybe next time we will take you to the Statue of Liberty and catch a baseball game.” Tony said.   
“If it was anything like today, I’m sure it will be a grand adventure.” Thor replied.  
“Well, by my count, everyone has planned and executed a team bonding/building exercise.” Bruce said.  
“Well we don’t have to stop hanging out.” Steve said, “We can still go out and do things.”   
“Afraid we’re going to fall apart if we no longer do things together?” Tony asked with a smirk.  
“Not likely, once you defeat a bunch of aliens, you have a lifelong bond.”   
“So do just you guys get to pick activities or can we women get in on this?” Darcy asked.  
“You ladies play an important part in our group, if there is anything you want to do with all of us, just let us know.” Steve said.  
“Awesome, because this new club is opening and I was hoping Tony could get us on the VIP list.” Darcy said.  
“Really?” Bruce asked her.  
“You need to experience more.” She told him.  
“Really, I need to experience more?” he questioned. “Experience this.” He said grabbing her face between his hands and kissing her deeply.  
“Okay kids, break it up.” Tony said trying to through a couch pillow at them, but Pepper snatched it and smacked him with it instead.  
When they came up for air, both were grinning and breathing heavily. Everyone else shared a chuckle of their antics.  
“We don’t have to plan out everything right now, let’s just take everything one day at a time.” Jane said.  
“I concur.” Thor said. “Let us cherish the days spent with our friends and not worry about the future.”   
“Well said.” Clint agreed.  
“And I would like to see this Shakespeare, you mentioned when we first met in battle.” Thor said to Tony.  
“Oh yeah.” He laughed at the memory.  
They spent the rest of the night sharing stories and relaxing with each other. Steve sunk down in his chair with a smile on his face as he observed these people he was well on his way to calling family. He was really good at calling the shots in the field, and sometimes in real life as well. The future was looking up for him, and this ragtag group of people as well.  
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A/N: Please review, even though I wrote this several years ago for FF.net I would still like hear your thoughts.


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